The present invention relates to stacked electrical connectors and more particularly, to stacked electrical connectors in which a noise filter may be incorporated.
In electronic devices containing stacked connectors, various types of filters are used to reduce or eliminate noise. Such filters may include a three terminal capacitor or a common mode choke coil. A disadvantage in the use of such filters is that they may complicate the production of the circuit board. A need, therefore, has been perceived for providing a simple means of filtering noise in stacked connectors.
The use of an integral ferrite element for this purpose is proposed in Japanese Patent Publication 64-2273. This reference discloses a modular jack having a modular insert installed in a casing. The body of the insert is formed with ferrite, and on one side of the insert body insert holes are formed for introducing connecting lines to be connected to respective contact springs. While this reference would appear to simplify the apparatus used for noise filtering in modular jacks, a need for further increasing the compactness of such modular jacks with integral filtering elements existed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,619 discloses a filtered modular jack assembly having an outer insulative housing with open front and rear sides. A ferrite filtering element is positioned adjacent the rear end, and an elongated insulative insert is superimposed over the ferrite element. The insulative insert is fixed to the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,064 is directed to a modular jack assembly which includes an outer insulative housing. This assembly also includes an insulative insert and an electronic filtering component mounted in a recess in the rear section of the insulative insert, which is adapted to be easily and compactly mounted in the jack.
Connector receptacles which are adapted to be mounted on a PWB are well known in the art. The universal serial bus (USB) connector, for example, is used in many computer and computer peripheral applications to provide for easy connection of the peripherals to computer devices. The USB connection is expected to become increasingly popular as it provides for numerous connections to the computer device without exhausting limited computer device resources. In addition, the USB connector is an excellent solution for attaching peripheral devices to portable computing devices such as notebooks. Accordingly, many computers now include two or more USB receptacles.
In the conventional USB connector there is essentially an insulative member which houses a plurality of contacts which extend horizontally then vertically to engage the PWB. A conductive shield has an upper wall which is superimposed over the horizontal section of the insulated insert. The conductive shield also has a lower wall adjacent the PWB, and the upper and lower walls are connected with the vertical side walls to form a plug receiving cavity.
U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/147,830 (Attorney""s Docket No. BERG-2529/C2409 US) is directed to an electrical connector system having a housing including a plurality of receiving spaces each adapted to receive a complementary electrical connector. The electrical connector system includes a plurality of contacts arranged in groups corresponding to a respective one of the receiving spaces and a common filter element connected to contacts in each of the groups. The connector also includes an outer shield that generally surrounds the housing and grounding contacts to create an electrical connection between the conductive outer shield and the plug element when inserted therein. In accordance with a feature of this application, the electrical connector system may be configured as a double deck receptacle.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,037,330, 5,167,531, 5,637,015 and 5,797,770 are illustrative of prior patents relating to stacked or double decked connectors.
The patents and patent applications set forth above are specifically intended to be incorporated by reference herein.
Commercially available modular connector systems with integrated magnetic filtering components are sold under the NETJACK(copyright) trademark by FCI Framatone Group. These connectors include magnetic components and enhanced electrical shielding which are important for EMI suppression. The magnetic components can include common mode chokes, isolation transformers, and other known filtering circuit elements.
While modular connector systems with integrated filter circuits are known there is a need for stacked connectors wherein the connectors are one on top of the other and have an expanded filter circuit insert capable of housing an appropriate number of filtering circuit elements. Due to the stacked nature of such connectors it is difficult to use a large insert which can include enough filtering circuit elements therein.
The present invention is directed to a stacked connector comprising a first receptacle in a first portion of the connector and a second receptacle stacked on the first receptacle in the first portion of the connector. A group of first contacts is arranged in the first receptacle and a group of second contacts is arranged in the second receptacle. A second portion of the connector is arranged adjacent to the first and second receptacles and includes a recess extending behind the first and second receptacles for receiving an insert containing at least one filtering circuit element. The groups of first and second contacts have extensions which extend into the second portion of the connector. The extensions of the first and second contacts are arranged along one wall of the recess for connection to the insert. A group of third contacts is arranged separately from the groups of first and second contacts along a different wall of the recess for connection to the insert and for connecting the stacked connector to circuitry external of the stacked connector and the insert.
In a preferred embodiment the first portion of the connector comprises a front portion of the connector and the second portion of the connector comprises a rear portion of the connector behind the front portion. The connector includes a top portion and a bottom portion, with the first receptacle being located in the bottom portion and the second receptacle being located in the top portion. The extensions of the first and second contacts are arranged in the top portion of the connector and the third contacts are arranged in the bottom portion of the connector. Most preferably the extensions of the first and second contacts are arranged in a row along the wall with the extensions of the first contacts alternating in the row with the extensions of the second contacts.
In a preferred embodiment the second contacts are arranged in the second receptacle above the first contacts in the first receptacle and corresponding first and second contacts of the receptacles are aligned in a given plane. Preferably the first and second contacts have a given width in the receptacles and a narrower width in the extensions of the contacts. The extensions of the first contacts are arranged toward one side of the first or second contacts and the extensions of the second contacts are arranged toward an opposing side of the first or second contacts. This permits the extensions of the first and second contacts to extend substantially parallel to one another to the wall of the recess without interference.
In a further preferred embodiment a first portion of the group of third contacts is arrange in a single row in the recess along the different wall, and a second portion of the third group of contacts is arranged in at least two substantially parallel rows for connection externally of the connector, the first portion of the third group of contacts being adapted for connection to the insert and the second portion of the third group of contacts being adapted for connection to external circuitry The contacts for external connection are arranged in a first row corresponding to the contacts in the first receptacle and a second row corresponding to the contacts in the second receptacle. Each of the contacts for external connection in the first row is preferably arranged in a common plane with a corresponding contact for external connection in the second row. The third contacts for external connection in one of the first or second rows of contacts for external connection may include a bend portion intermediate the first and second portions of the third contacts, which permits the contacts in the one of the rows to transition from a single row of third contacts at the first portion thereof to the substantially parallel rows of the third contacts at the second portion thereof. Preferably corresponding contacts in one row of the third contacts are arranged in a common plane with the corresponding contacts in the other row of third contacts.
In the most preferred embodiment a filter insert is provided in the recess, which is electrically connected between the extensions of the first and second contacts in the recess and the first portions of the third contacts in the recess, which are to be utilized in circuitry connected by the connector.
It is the aim of this invention to have an improved stacked connector for use with a filtering circuit insert.
It is a further aim of this invention to provide such a connector with an enlarged recess which permits a large filtering circuit insert to be utilized.
These and other aims will become apparent from the following description and drawings.
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings an embodiment that is presently preferred, in which like references numerals represent similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.